Tuesday, March 3, 2015

IWSG-Your Story's Beginning

Welcome to Insecure Writer's Support Group March meeting on the first Wednesday of the month, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. To visit the website and find more participants, click HERE.

Your Story's Beginning

The beginning of your story, whether it be a short story or a novel, needs to do three basic things.

The most important is to get the story going and show what kind of story it's going to be.

To introduce and characterize the protagonist.

Engage the reader's interest in reading on (plot).

Some beginnings do more than this. Some create moods; some create characters who aren't the protagonist, or one or more of the subordinate characters. Some will establish a norm the story will then depart from. A story can do more than the basic three things but should never do less.

These three jobs are absolutely vital. To the degree that any short story or novel neglects them, it's risking being dull, uninvolving and possibly confusing to the reader.

Why do I bring up such a very basic writing construct? Every once in a while we need to make a re-assessment of the beginning of our story. Is it doing all it can for our readers? Does it grab them and take them on the beginning of a journey that they won't want to quit reading? After not seeing my story for over a month, I got to see it with fresh eyes and found myself editing it to liven it up. You might try setting your story down for a time and then start at the beginning to see what you find. The results may be just what your story needs.

Thankfully with the help of my wonderful, and no nonsense editor, my first chapter now sizzles. Honesty can sting a bit, but when I got over that and saw he was totally correct, the first chapter transformed completely. Before the editing, the story was two dimensional. Then after the rewrite, the story became as real as any movie I've loved watching and feeling. Thank you for reminding us of the importance of the first chapter. Blessings.

I'd Love To Hear From You!

Connect With Me

About Me

My passion for writing comes from the world I've experienced. I spent part of my life as a musician, a mother, an RN and finally a writer. I like to go back and explore those worlds to find the richness in each one. I'm always in the process of creating something and this blog is a reflection of that creativity. When looking for a story, I've learned the thing to do is to forget everything except the spectacle of life. "I will live this day to it's fullest. Time is the coin of my life and I choose to spend it wisely." ~Unknown